Dedicated Wi-Fi hotspot to help IP newsgatherers cut through London Olympics congestion

Broadcasters looking to file reports from London via IP newsgathering solutions while covering the Summer Olympics will have access to an uncontended enterprise-grade Wi-Fi hotspot.

Boxx TV has set up the hotspot for crews using platforms, such as Quicklink, Livestream, Dejero, LiveU, TVU, Livewire or Skype, to upload news from the London Olympic Park. The hotspot is designed for sending live streams or FTP with upload speeds of about 4Mb/s.

Boxx TV will provide portable hardware to access the hotspot so that crews with or without broadcasting rights can work from connections in and around the area of the London Olympic Park. The Wi-Fi hotpot will be operational around the Aquatic Center, the Main Stadium, the Westfield shopping center and the public areas and restaurants.

The network offers broadcasters leveraging IP newsgathering technology a means to bypass public 3G networks around the Olympic Park that are likely to be overloaded. Scott Walker, co-founder of Boxx TV said it “is questionable if 3G bonding will be able to offer any usable upload bandwidth for live streaming of FTP feeds.”

The FAA’s current rules and proposed ban on flight over people, requirement of visual line of sight and restriction on nighttime flying, effectively prohibit broadcasters from using UAS for newsgathering. ~ WMUR-TV General Manager Jeff Bartlett